Government authorities in India have declared the groundwater around Coca-Cola’s bottling plant in Mehdiganj as “over-exploited” – a category indicating the highest level of stress on the water resources. Over-exploited indicates more water being extracted from the aquifer than replenished – a highly unsustainable state.

Coca-Cola’s application to expand its bottling plant in Mehdiganj, Varanasi in India has been rejected by the government, according to sources close to the India Resource Center. Anticipating that the local and international campaigns had succeeded in getting the application for expansion rejected, and in order to save face, the Coca-Cola Company has written a letter to the chief secretary of the state of Uttar Pradesh and the UP Pollution Control Board in the last week stating that the company was “not to pursue the expansion” of the plant, according to sources close to India Resource Center.

Coca-Cola’s bottling plant has been shut down by state government authorities in Mehdiganj in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. The closure is a major victory for the community in Mehdiganj which has actively mobilized the community and engaged with government agencies to shut down Coca-Cola’s plant. The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) ordered the plant to shut down because it found the company to be violating a number of conditions of its license.

A new study by Dr. Aneel Karnani, associate professor of strategy at the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business, has found Coca-Cola’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) claims around its bottling plant in Kala Dera in India to be lacking merit. The study concludes that Coca-Cola's operations lead to “tragedy of the commons.”

Local authorities in Varanasi in India are preparing to evict Coca-Cola from land that the company is occupying illegally at its bottling plant in Mehdiganj. The action to evict Coca-Cola comes as the result of an order (in Hindi) that was passed by the Tehsildar, the local revenue officer, on December 16, 2013 after an investigation conducted by the authorities at the insistence of local villagers.

PepsiCo’s announcement that the company will invest another $5.5 billion in India by 2020 – to manufacture and sell more junk food to Indians – does not bode well for the long term public health of the country. More junk food is not something India can afford, nor should it encourage. For India, a growing obesity problem is sure to further burden an already overstressed and under-funded public health system in India, as well as adversely impact the quality of life of millions.

Fifteen village councils (panchayats) have called upon the government to reject Coca-Cola’s application for expansion because it would further worsen the water conditions in the area. They have also called for an end to Coca-Cola’s current groundwater extraction in Mehdiganj in Varanasi district in India. The fifteen village councils are located within a five kilometer radius of the Coca-Cola bottling plant and are affected by Coca-Cola’s bottling operations.

Coca-Cola India’s plans to expand its production capacity at its bottling plant in the village of Mehdiganj in the state of Uttar Pradesh have been opposed by local community members and allies. In a letter written to the government agencies responsible for granting the license, Lok Samiti and the India Resource Center have asked the authorities to reject Coca-Cola’s application for expansion and to shut down the current operations immediately to ease the water problems in the area.

The Coca-Cola company has located one of its bottling plants in Mehdiganj, a rural and agrarian area located about 25 kms from the city of Varanasi, in east India. Coca-Cola’s bottling plant, which has been in operation since 1999, has severely damaged the groundwater resources in the area – both through over-exploitation as well as pollution of groundwater and the soil.